


How to Pick up a Bargain at this Time of Year

by greerwatson



Category: Forever Knight
Genre: Christmas, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-24
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-21 14:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6055822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greerwatson/pseuds/greerwatson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Myra calls Don to come and pick her up after she's been Christmas shopping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Pick up a Bargain at this Time of Year

Myra had decided that, this year, her husband would be the one to brave the Eaton Centre and take Jenny to see Santa Claus.  Of course, it had to be the Eaton Centre.  Everyone knew the Eatons’ Santa was the real one.  Yes, even though the Santa Claus Parade was no longer sponsored by the department store and no longer delivered the ‘jolly old elf’ to its toy department, it was still the Eatons’ Santa that was the real one in Myra’s eyes—and hence, by some Christmas commutative law, the Eaton Centre Santa on whose knee Jenny would sit.

Personally, Schanke suspected that, from his daughter’s perspective, any fat guy in a red suit would do provided he said, “Ho! Ho! Ho!”  And, of course, provided they had already visited the toy department, so that she could to pick out the presents she hoped to find under the tree—some of which she would, budget permitting.

After that, they went and looked at Simpsons’ windows ... even if it was the Bay, nowadays.

Exhausted from the crowds (for he was no shopper), Schanke asked Jenny if she would like to see where Daddy worked.  This was a treasured treat.  And so it was that, on his day off, he arrived in the squad room (where Nick made much of his partner’s little girl) so that he was by the phone when Myra (who knew her husband even better than he thought she did) decided to call and tell him to pick her up because she had bought far too much to take home by public transit.

She had gone to Honest Ed’s.  Why Honest Ed’s was not a question Schanke needed to ask.  Myra always loved a bargain store.  She would, he decided, have bought most of their smaller presents and half the Christmas dinner; and he was the goose.

He packed Jenny into the back seat and headed along Queen to Bathurst, where he turned north.  The store occupied most of the south-west block at Bathurst and Bloor, both of which were busy streets; and so that he would not have to hunt a place to park, Myra had told him to pick her up on the corner “on the other side”.  Other side of where he had not thought to ask until she had already hung up.  He kept a sharp eye out on the left as he neared the corner.  The store was unmistakeable, of course, with its swoops and whorls of light bulbs decorating the façade.  “There’s no place like this place, anyplace,” indeed!

He could not see Myra anywhere.  The light turned red, giving him more time.  He peered left along Bloor.  No.

“I see her!” Jenny crowed.

“Where?”

“Over there!”  He had to turn round to see where her arm was pointing, and followed the direction over to the north side.  Christ!  Of all the places for Myra to choose!  How the hell did she think he was going to get round over there to pick her up!  She might at least have picked the south side of the street:  he could just have made a right.

He drove straight on as the light changed, past the subway station, looking for a right turn that could take him round in a loop.  Finally, he managed to manoeuvre them several blocks to the east, driving back along Bloor.  It was nearly dark; and, as they approached the intersection, he kept his eyes peeled, looking for a parking space.  Everyone and her sister seemed to be out shopping today.  Moreover, it was rush hour and the street should be clear along the curb, but certainly wasn’t:  he thought Traffic could have a field day if they made a sweep right now, slipping tickets under windshield wipers.

It was because his eye was running by the sidewalk, rather than the road, that he spotted the ... what the hell were they? ... tinsel hula skirts was what they looked like!  Skirts of silver strips that jiggled and danced as the breeze caught them.  They were attached to the lamp posts, and illuminated from within by the incandescent lights.  He supposed they had to be this year’s Christmas decorations; but he couldn’t see what hula skirts had to do with Santa Claus.

Spotting Honest Ed’s up ahead and Myra waving wildly, bags at her feet, he pulled over illegally and stopped in front of her.  Leaning over, he unlocked and opened the door for her.

“Hurry up and get in,” he urged her.

She stepped closer and leaned down.  “No, darling.  You get out.  I need your help.”

“But—!”

“Oh, come on, Don!  You’re a cop.  You won’t get a ticket.”

Pressing his lips in annoyance, he popped the trunk and—aware of the heavy traffic—slid over the seats and got out on the curb side.  As he did, she danced back a little.  Thinking that she was heading for her heap of shopping bags, he followed.

Suddenly, though, she was on him, grasping his lapel and drawing him quick and fast under one of the lamp posts.

“What the—!”  He fell silent as she pressed her lips vigorously to his.  Past her hair, he could see the grins of passers by ... who were not passing by.  Jesus, he thought.  What if someone has a camera?

Well, go for it, Donnie-boy!  If you can’t beat’em, join’em!

He bent Myra backwards and gave her a long smack on the lips.  Dimly, he heard applause.

As they came up for air, he opened his mouth, a question on his lips.  She pointed up to the hula skirt on the lamp post.  He looked up.  Almost hidden by the tossing tinsel was a tiny bunch of mistletoe.

“Well, Santa brought Christmas early.”

**Author's Note:**

> For Christmas 2012, the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area installed twenty-one “kissing stations” between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue, each of which had a bunch of fake mistletoe suspended from a tinsel-bedecked lamp. 
> 
> This inspired Brightknightie to issue the Bloor Street Mistletoe Stations Challenge on the LiveJournal community, [FK Comment Fic](http://fkcommentfic.livejournal.com), suggesting that people write a brief Forever Knight story that incorporated the stations in some way (disregarding the anachronism).
> 
> This story was posted to both the FK Comment Fic community and FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU on December 24th.


End file.
